Elton John “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” 2xLP

Reissue featuring trifold double LP with MP3 download card.

2014 remaster by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering from the original analogue tapes

Almost certainly Elton John’s biggest seller, save his first greatest hits collection, this was the album that created a true superstar.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Roadwent on to sell 31-million copies.Goodbye… perfectly marries the various elements of Elton’s craft: classic songwriting, glam stomp, R&B, gospel, jaw-dropping performances, soul and a large helping of brilliant showmanship.

The album spent eight weeks at No.1 and went platinum seven times over in the U.S. It also contains Elton and co-writer Bernie Taupin’s most successful song, “Candle in the Wind;” a No.1 hit three times, in three different versions, in three successive decades, ultimately becoming the biggest-selling single of all time. It also features dynamite standards such as “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” and “Bennie and the Jets,” the latter being the song that led to Elton becoming the first white performer to appear on the influential American R&B TV show Soul Train. The album is also ranked No. 91 inRolling Stonemagazine’s “Top 100 Greatest Albums Of All Time” chart. In a career filled with highlights that other artists can only dream of,Goodbye Yellow Brick Roadstands as a towering achievement, a defining moment in the most exciting era in rock history.

Often referred to as the pinnacle of Elton and co-writer Bernie Taupin’s creative powers and commercial success,Goodbye Yellow Brick Roadwas the eighth studio album the pair had released in a three-year period. But the recording of the album wasn’t the smoothest of experiences. After initial attempts at recording in Kingston, Jamaica, were derailed by the double whammy of industrial action at the studio and further disruption was caused by a world boxing title fight in the town, Elton and the band returned to the familiar settings of Chateau d’Herouville. The album was completed in a staggering seventeen days (including mixing!) and the result is a body of work of huge ambition-kicking off with the grandiose, epic prog rock sound of “Funeral for a Friend / Love Lies Bleeding,” and effortlessly segueing between pop, hard rock, soul, and stunning heart-wrenching ballads.

The album artwork was also a giant leap forward creatively for Elton. Whereas earlier album artwork either didn’t feature Elton at all, or showed him as an earnest early 70’s songwriter, here he can been seen resplendent in sparkling platform boots, a satin bomber jacket and, of course, his soon-to-be trademark flamboyant eyewear. The sight of him stepping from an unglamorous normal street into a magical fantasy world is not only a metaphor for the transition he was going through as an artist but is one of the most defining images of early 1970’s rock music.

The lasting legacy ofGoodbye Yellow Brick Roadcan still be seen with a wealth of emerging new talent quick to praise the influence it had on their own careers. Artists ranging from BRIT winner Ed Sheeran (“Candle in the Wind”), R&B sensation Miguel (“Bennie and the Jets”), rock band Fall Out Boy (“Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting”), add their own interpretations to the classic originals on a sensational bonus disc. Recorded with producer Peter Asher at the helm, Elton and Bernie’s influence on modern day Americana, R&B and soul, and rock singers continues to shine through.

Tracklist:

Side 1
Funeral For A Friend [Love Lies Bleeding]
Candle In The Wind
Bennie And The Jets

Side 2
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
This Song Has No Title
Grey Seal
Jamaica Jerk Off
Ive Seen That Movie Too

Side 3
Sweet Painted Lady
The Ballad Of Danny Baily [1909-34]
Dirty Little Girl
All The Girls Love Alice

Side 4
Your Sister Cant Twist [But She Can RocknRoll]
Saturday Nights Alright For Fighting
Roy Rogers
Social Disease
Harmony